After eight years on the Martian surface Opportunity still does science. In the whirl of political and economic woes and worries, a little bit of human science persists in a manner that is both incredibly impressive and slightly uplifting. For all that we worry about screwing up and falling short, we did do this.

Very nice image from JPL also. Three generations of rover technology in one shot.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gall...215_D511_br.jpg

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Gravity is a harsh mistress
SAM 002
NAR 91005
"The complexity of living is eminently favored to the simplicity of not."

Great photo!

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Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

What was the warrenty on Opportunity? 90 days? Pretty darned impressive.

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Retro-grouch

I'll be really impressed if it can last as long as the Voyager probes. 35+ years and counting. JPL does do good work.

The original projected mission duration for the MERs was 90 sols. I would say that both Spirit and Opportunity have fairly well exceeded any expectation of deliverables, which is why I just love JPL.

__________________
Gravity is a harsh mistress
SAM 002
NAR 91005
"The complexity of living is eminently favored to the simplicity of not."

Hats off to William Pickering.

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Retro-grouch

If anything is well worth the money spent on it, NASA's unmanned side is DEFINITELY IT!

Personally I'm about to the point I just wish they'd quit wasting money on the manned side altogether and just focus on the unmanned side. Ever since the moon landing, the manned space program has been more about preserving itself and attempting to find something worthwhile to do (usually related to science about how to better cope with the effects of long duration deep space missions-- missions which will be too expensive to ever undertake for the foreseeable future, just as they have been for the last 40 years... ) Since we're not really going to do anything meaningful scientifically with manned missions, and since unmanned missions ARE expanding the boundaries of human knowledge and information into the far frontiers of the solar system, in many cases to places that even with an unlimited budget a manned mission simply could never go (too much radiation, to hot, too cold, too much gravity, no solid surface, etc)

Of course, it's been said, and correctly so, that the fortunes of the unmanned programs are inextricably linked with that of the manned program. If funding for the manned program was cut or eliminated, the savings would NOT be applied to the unmanned program... in fact, the unmanned program's funding would probably wither to a small fraction of its current status.

Sad, really, because the unmanned program is the one that's been making all the DISCOVERIES and doing all the REAL SCIENCE for the past 40 years... the manned program has just been an expensive sideshow grafting off the unmanned program's funding for all these decades whenever it found itself short of funds...

Later! OL JR

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The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

I would offer but one observation. In the eyes of the public, 'we' have not yet 'been' to Mars.

__________________
Gravity is a harsh mistress
SAM 002
NAR 91005
"The complexity of living is eminently favored to the simplicity of not."

Just getting a probe on the Martian surface intact is a feat in itself! I'm not 100% sure but I believe the crash rate is almost 50% or at least used to be.

__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078